Zanzibar

No trip to Tanzania is complete without a swing over to Zanzibar.

We reluctantly and emotionally came out of the bush to have one last perspective of this complex and varied country. We took a small plane to Dar Es Salaam and then skipped over to the island of Zanzibar, also a part of Tanzania - it actually puts the Zan in Tanzania, (a marriage of the countries of Taganyika and Zanzibar in 1964). This blue water island is totally different from the area we were in. Tropically humid, crowded with people and startlingly poor. Tourism is super important to all the country.
We stayed for a few days on the beach end of the island and had some fabulous snorkeling and chillin'.

We spent one day in Stone Town which is an ancient crossroads of trade in spices, slaves, and mariner tales.
This is the home of sultans and the first home of Freddie Mercury of Queen. (They have photos and plaques- and lots of hawkers- outside his unassuming home)
We really enjoyed the exotic-ness of it,  the history layered on the winding alley streets. Lots of fortunes were made and lost here, chiefly by outsiders. The sultans of Oman took over from the Portuguese to control this trade route center.
The market was interesting, The doors of the town were beautiful and there were interesting sights almost everywhere you turned.

I think at this point though we were on the edge of being overloaded. It was hard to take in the history, the agricultural spice tour, the people.
I'm glad we went.
It's time to go home.

Narrow streets kept homes shady and cool